Michael Cuddyer, Carlos Gonzalez Selected For National League Home Run Derby Team

This year the All-Star game and its festivities, including the home run derby, will take place at Citi Field in New York. Hometown hero David Wright will serve as the captain of the National League All-Star home run derby team, and today he made his selections.

In what I suppose could be considered the exact opposite of an east coast bias, Wright has selected two Colorado Rockies for his team.

Here is the celebratory tweet from the official Colorado Rockies Twitter feed:

Bryce Harper will be the 4th member of the team, at least as it stands now.

This would seem an appropriate time to note the fact that CarGo, who participated in last year’s derby as well, is out of tonight’s lineup with his bum hand. That combined with his absence last week with a strained back means that CarGo better be feeling in tip-top shape to actually partake in the derby, especially considering what a disaster this team is when it is missing its star players.

The NL team will compete against an AL squad that consists of Robinson Cano, Chris Davis, and Prince Fielder (Cano is waiting to finalize the final member). Let’s just say that the AL will enter as the favorites regardless…

Cuddyer. Image: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Entering tonight’s action CarGo leads the NL with 24 home runs. The best part about his stats so far has to be the fact that 13 of those home runs were on the road. So when ESPN‘s analysts start rambling on about hitting home runs at Coors Field, you can roll your eyes in good faith (if CarGo participates, that is).

Cuddyer has 15 home runs: nine at home and six on the road. Considering the way Cuddyer’s magical season has gone, I have to believe that he will find a way to make a run at this thing.